


we could comprehend our condition by the moon

by ennaih (aquandrian)



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Crack Fic, F/M, mermaid au, outsider pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 08:57:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7164491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquandrian/pseuds/ennaih
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tale of Grand Admiral Krennic of Her Majesty's Royal Navy and how the sea took him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we could comprehend our condition by the moon

**Author's Note:**

> So there was [this Felicity Jones photoset and I tagged it with "really a mermaid AU?"](http://ennaih.tumblr.com/post/145706002713/waterstons-felicity-jones-photographed-by-guy) and [onstraysod said "Don't tempt me"](https://onstraysod.tumblr.com/post/145721521760/ennaih-now-really-a-mermaid-au-dont-tempt-me) and added a pic of Ben Mendelsohn as Danny sitting forlorn on a boat. And then I went mad and wrote this on the spot.
> 
> Title from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' _Messiah Ward_.

“Why’s it called the Krennic, then? What’s that, some sort of squid?”

The first mate squints at the cabin boy. “Look, idiot child, you better learn the stories pretty damned quick so the crew will take to you. Certain things every sailor knows.”

“What then?” The cabin boy scratches at his armpit, hoping the bindings don’t slip. “So tell me.”

Here’s the story every sailor not an idiot child knows. Grand Admiral Krennic was the most feared and most respected man in Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. He had commanded armadas in battles, reduced enemy ships to splinters and bloodied waters, conquered islands and their nations for his Queen, brought her pirates and privateers alike. He knew the skies, the seas, and the royal courts.

And then the sea took him.

The rumours abounded, that a freak storm had swept him overboard, that some jealous captain had caught him unawares one night stroll on the decks, and sent his body to the depths. The first mate scoffs at this.”Not bloody likely. Krennic could take down any man.”

“You seen him?”

The first mate remembers the blast of cannons and clouds of gunsmoke, screams all around him, the scent of blood and brine, and the roaring terror and adrenaline pounding through him. He remembers being convinced he was about to piss himself, and then through the blur of everything he had seen the swoop and curve of white cloak, the straight line of white arm and black glove, the flash of gunfire and the explosion of another body blown apart. He remembers the face -- thinlipped, craggy, single-focused for the shot, and then the cold eyes snapping around like lightning.

“No man would have gotten the better of him,” says the first mate, coming back to himself. The cabin boy has a private thought and grunts. “So then what was it that got him?”

“Some people reckon he was cursed by a witch somewhere, that she got the great kraken to --”

The cabin boy scoffs. “No such thing.”

“Yeah, I hope for your sake that’s true. I’m just telling you what people think. Others reckon he was kidnapped by pirates, imprisoned on some island somewhere and that one day he’ll come back and raze every pirate nation to the depths and take us back to England, back to the Queen and a good home and a warm bed.”

The cabin boy’s eyes are wide now despite himself, dazzled with an image of glory and redemption he can relate to.

“I think,” the first mate says, a little quieter now, “I think something different happened to him.” The cabin boy waits, sensing a secret about to be shared.

“The cook used to take his smoke at that time, you know. He was on deck most nights when the admiral took his walk.”

“What, Cookie Tunks?” The cabin boy guffaws. “Cookie Tunks can’t tell right from left, he smokes so much hash! I know about his stories, they’re all mad!”

“Yeah well, maybe you should listen to this one. Cookie said one night long long before the admiral disappeared, Cookie heard him talking to someone. Couldn’t hear who it was but it was in the dark, in the shadows. And when the admiral realised Cookie was there, there was a splash and no one with him. Cookie said nothing, it was between them, and anyway Cookie thought he imagined half of that.”

“But?”

“But most nights Cookie would hear a murmured conversation. Sometimes he’d see a glint of light in the shadows, sometimes he’d hear a lilting voice.”

“What kind of voice?”

Now the first mate looks uneasy. “Maybe female.”

“Naaahhh,” says the cabin boy, shocked. No women on board, ever. Ever.

“Cookie thought he was going mad. Then the night walks became night excursions.”

“Excursions how?”

“He’d take a dinghy out, by himself alone on the water.”

Just him on the dark waters glittering under the clouded skies. One night Cookie had looked out and seen the moon come out from a bank of cloud and gleam bright on the white cape. The grand admiral leaning on the side of the small boat, arms folded, the oars beside him. And a shape leaning on the water side of the boat, pale gleaming bare arms folded on the rim, dark twisted long hair down a pale back that disappeared into the black seas. They were too far away but somehow Cookie knew, maybe from the way they leaned toward each other, the tilt of the grand admiral’s head. There was tenderness there. Impossible emotion.

The grand admiral spent more and more time away from the captains and crew, either in his quarters or out on the ocean in the night. Someone once saw him in his cabin, twisting a small rope of irregular pearls around his wrist, twisting it over and over again, an expression of terrible pain on his face. Was it pain or longing or both?

“And then?” asked the cabin boy, afraid.

“We all thought he’d die in battle, that that was the only way Grand Admiral Krennic would ever be defeated. Blaze of cannonfire, exploding ships and skies, you know?”

“Yeah …”

“But no. One night he was just gone.”

“Cookie never saw him? Them?”

“Cookie was ill that night. Bad mussels. Next morning, the admiral's cabin was empty. All his books and instruments still there, all the papers and money.” The first mate rouses himself, sharpens his tone. “And that’s why we call this ship the Krennic. Because he was a great man and we always remember him.”

The cabin boy nods, thoughtful as he’s sent back below deck. The first mate continues his patrol, glancing out at the moon on the shifting tides. 

He had lied. Cookie did see it. 

The grand admiral had come out on deck, smiled a little at Cookie who had inclined his head with old familiar respect. And then he watched the white shape slip into the midnight waves. He saw the pale shape emerge in a second, like she had been waiting and hiding. Her face was terrible and beautiful, glittering eyes and feral smile as she reached her bare arms to the man treading water. And he had gone into her embrace willingly under the gibbous moon, held her fierce face in his hands as they kissed, all sharp teeth and salted lips. There was a sudden tear of flesh, an unfurl of scale and fin and tail. The white clothes shredded apart on the waves, a life discarded, and the waters had closed over the two new shapes disappearing away.

Now the first mate patrols the decks and wonders if the glint of moon is the glint of pale flesh and iridescent scale, if shapes follow the ships deep in the waves. If below his feet, below the deck and cabins of people and the great hull swim and twist the living bodies of creatures he’ll never know. Feral and beautiful and intelligent, speaking languages to each other he’ll never understand. The creature of the sea and her grand admiral moving through the oceans of the world, exploring sunken treasures and natural terrible wonders of the depths. A different queen and her loyal consort, linking clawed hands, curling monstrous bodies around each other, kissing impossible tenderness.

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**Author's Note:**

> You only have onstraysod to blame for this. I am not responsible. I may also have been somewhat influenced by a private story KaliBear shared with me so thank you, this is your fault too.
> 
> But come talk to [us Jynnic peeps on Tumblr](http://directororsonwelleskrennic.tumblr.com/) anyway!
> 
> Now with amazingly beautiful art by [winterofherdiscontent](http://winterofherdiscontent.tumblr.com/post/145855669989/something-rich-and-strange-full-fathom-five) that's got me all weepy and happy, omg.


End file.
